My friends being all gay fellows entered as noisily as a herd of scholars broken loose from school--all jokes and laughter--for in Paris all seemed to live as if their lives and joys were to last for ever, like those of the gods in Homer. 'By the devil's mercy, M. Fleur-de-lis, my brave bully host,' said the Marechal de Logis, 'but thy wife looks well and rosy!' 'As if she were a widow,' added the Chevalier Livingstone, pinching her chin. 'Dinner for six, Madame Omelette--and plenty of Burgundy--' 'Nay Marechal, devil strangle me, no Burgundy for me--but Champagne--the pure wine of Champagne,' said Cheyne of Dundargle, who had lost his left ear under Lord Teviot at the capture of Nanci in 1633. 'Champagne and Burgundy be it--M. le Duc de Burgundy's best, by Jupiter!' said the Viscount. 'To the devil with Jupiter and all false gods,' cried Sir Quentin, adding his voice to the din; 'let us all shout Vive le Roi!' ''Tis all the French thou hast learned yet.' ''Tis enough for me, Viscount.' 'And will serve thee under fire,' said the Marechal de Logis; 'but make love to a grisette, and she will soon teach you French.' 'Thanks for the advice, sir. I have already engaged a preceptress.' 'What! you who have not been twenty-four hours in Paris?' 'Yes, I. The language of the eyes will aid the language of the tongue.' 'Of course, Viscount,' said the Chevalier Livingstone. 'Noel! Noel! say I, like Messieurs le Bourgeois, whenever they are pleased, and choose to quote the canticle.' 'Aha, chevalier! where do they cry this?' 'At the Petit Theatre, where the old scriptural moralities are acted by women quite nude. Yes, sirs. Zounds! Viscount Dundrennan, what would your sobersided kirk session say to that?' 'And to buying pigeons in daylight at the Pont aux Colombes?' added Dundrennan, laughing. 'Seats, gentlemen,' said Pierre Omelette, the host, 'for dinner waits.' 'Thank Heaven!' exclaimed the Chevalier, 'for I am alike tired and hungry. This forenoon I have fenced with the King's master; drank with Chavagnac; chatted with Richelieu; flirted with Marion in his absence; lost fifty crowns at primero with the Duchesse de Bouillon; I have heard _le Fête d'Amour_ sung at the Opera in the Tennis Court de Bellair; I tried a new horse for Mademoiselle Chevreuse quite round the Boulevardes, and I am here!' The dinner ordered by our old Marechal de Logis was sumptuous; but I cannot say that I enjoyed it much; everything was cooked in the French fashion; thus, fish, flesh, and fowl were so disguised that I never knew of which I was partaking. The wines were excellent, and amid merriment and anecdotes, the evening slipped joyously away.